Poultry Diagnostic Labs

Following is a list of state veterinary laboratories. They are practicing veterinarians that work exclusively with poultry and livestock.
You can use a private veterinarian near youwith expertise in poultry or contact one of these laboratories. Normally they are very helpful for an initial, free consultation on the phone. Of course for a more definitive analysis, they will probably want samples of sick or dead birds. If you decide to send them some birds, ask for the recommended shipping instructions. Live birds would have to be hand delivered. If you are sending in dead birds, it is best to collect them as soon after death as possible, put them in a plastic bag and put them in a refrigerator to immediately chill them. It is very difficult to perform an accurate necropsy with a shipped bird that has never been chilled. Without chilling, the bird starts to decompose immediately. The chilling retards this process. You can also put them in a freezer for quicker chilling but do not send a frozen bird.

Leave the birds in the plastic bag when you ship them. Place them in an inexpensive foam cooler you can buy at a grocery store and then put this in a cardboard box. Also place a couple of the "Blue Ice" type ice packs with the bird(s) to keep them cool in transit. It is much better if they arrive the next day, whether you use UPS, FedEx, US Mail or Greyhound. Oftentimes the lab has a reduced rate agreement with one of the carriers so if you get their account number you can put the shipping charge on the lab's account and then the lab will bill you for shipping charges later.

When you speak with them at the laboratory, ask their charges. Sometimes they have a minimum charge and it is the same charge to you whether you send 1 or 2 or 3 birds. Send as many birds as possible for a more accurate diagnosis.
Do not take live birds to the lab that you expect to get back. Normally, their policy is to euthanize all birds that enter the premises. As many diseased birds arrive at the lab, they do not want you take home birds that may have been infected.